


Moon Washed

by FanFictionEngineer



Series: Gaalee Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: GaaLee Bingo 2020, M/M, Neji not dead, Tenten and Neji mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26754061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFictionEngineer/pseuds/FanFictionEngineer
Summary: Life in the desert did not follow the cycles of the moon. It followed the rise and fall of the seasons and the rising and setting of the sun.Gaalee 2020 BingoGreen Card 1 - MOON
Relationships: Gaara/Rock Lee
Series: Gaalee Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948663
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34
Collections: GaaLee Bingo





	Moon Washed

**Author's Note:**

> The first day, the first post for Gaalee month and I am not off to the best start but hopefully, I can do better as the month goes on because my work schedule is wack.
> 
> I kinda fizzled at the end since I am trying to finish this before work as I have an 7hr today and I start at 1 pm so not much time in between small other tasks before I go.
> 
> Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. All spelling and tense errors are my own.

Life in the desert did not follow the cycles of the moon. It followed the rise and fall of the seasons and the rising and setting of the sun. Those cycles dictated to the shinobi of the Hidden Sand Village when water, food and supplies were scarce and when it was plentiful. 

All the moon was to them was a reflection of sunlight, painting the world in gray and silver and giving light to guide them on treks over the rolling dunes. After the war, it lead to uneasy nights as all who had fought and survived the Fourth Shinobi War watched the moon with fear and uneasy, as if this was a genjutsu that they had won and were still under the control of the Ten Tails. 

But for Gaara, it marked another long and restless night of patrolling and standing over his village as a silent guardian. Even after having the One Tail, Shukaku, extracted from him by the Akaski, the uneasy and weariness made it difficult to sleep leading up to and after the night of the full moon. 

Gaara paused in his walk, standing in the arch that served as the village’s main entrance as a cloud of charka quickly approached the village, deep within the desert. Normally when a surge of charka was detected coming in from the desert, it was a signal of a full-fledge assault from another hidden shinobi village. 

But in these times of peace, it served as an early signal of an incoming foreign shinobi group. Gaara smiled as he saw the billowing sand float in the air, kicked up by great force as a speeding green shinobi raced towards the entrance.

Slowly down till he was at a fast walk (or decent jog as many would complain), the green shinobi came till he was face to face with Gaara, a giant smile reflecting the moon rays.  
“Hello Kazekage-sama!” boomed Lee, as he did a proper bow; bowing at 90 degrees from the waist, his arms glued to his side and feet together.

“Hello Lee,” Gaara said softly. “It’s good to see you my friend. And I have told you, its fine for you to call me ‘Gaara’. We are comrades after all.”

Lee snapped back and saluted, “But that would be inappropriate! You are the Kazekage of this village and proper respect must be given or I shall do 1000 push-ups.”  
Gaara let out a huff of amusement. Lee had always been formal, calling his superiors with the proper suffixes, much to the carnage of the current Hokage, Kakashi Hakate. Sometimes it was best to let snakes bask where it wanted too.

“Very well,” Gaara concluded. “I shall not stop you. But perhaps you could try? Maybe make it as a youthful challenge that you are so fond of?”

Lee blinked and Gaara watched with some amusement as flickers of emotions cross his face. Lee was honest and wore his heart of his sleeve so it wasn’t always difficult to determine what he was thinking or feeling. 

“Perhaps I shall, a youthful challenge to honor our friendship and bonds forge and made steadfast in blood, sweat and tears,” exclaimed Lee, giving his ‘Good Guy’ pose, teeth shining and a thumbs up and all. “I shall do what I can to call you Gaara when it is appropriate or do 1000 laps around Suna at high noon!”

Gaara felt a flicker of sympathy for the patrolling shinobi and ANBU as, much their eternal dismay, Lee would hold true to his word.

“That sounds like a most interesting challenge, but please let’s avoid making a trip to the medical ward. I am sure most of medics would avoid a repeat of your last visit,” Gaara gently reminded as Lee gave an exaggerate (in his opinion) wince.

The last time Team Guy had stopped by Sunagakure was for lending extra muscle in clearing out several large burrowing scorpion nests that had emerged and had begun to harass several travelling caravans. Most had escape with minor injuries except for Lee when he had taken a a stinger to his left side after a failed barrage attack. 

When Lee had been taken for medical treatment, it turned out that Lee was just as susceptible to strong pain killers and opium as he was to alcohol, much to surprise of Suna’s medics and humor of his teammates. It also turned out that Lee was a quite a flirt when indebted which became apparent when Gaara had made a surprise visit to check up on Lee during dinner time. 

Kankuro had gaffed as he watched, and did nothing to intervene, as Lee made several colorful (but not lewd) comments about Gaara’s appearance and his outfit. When the effect had worn off, Lee had been absolutely horrified and scolded his teammates for doing nothing. 

“I….will keep that in mind,” Lee said bashfully, his face a dark red underneath the moonlight. 

Gaara gave a small smile before asking, “I’m guessing you went ahead of your teammates so that lodgings would be prepared for their arrival?”

“Actually no,” Lee said and Gaara felt a twinge of uneasy at Lee’s sudden change in mood. “Part of squad was waylaid at the border due to a scuffle with some rogue ninja. I was send to give you news as it would have been faster than sending a messenger hawk.”

“Is everyone alright?” demanded Gaara. Though there was peace between the great nations, there were those still uneasy or unaccepting of peace between long-standing enemies. Some had even deserted their posts and positions due to refusal to comply with orders.

“It is all good. All have been captured alive and being taken back to Konohagakure, no injuries noted or report,” stated Lee. “They should be here in a week’s time considering delays.”  
Gaara released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That is good. I’m glad everything is alright. Shall I show you to your quarters?”

Lee shook his head violently. “If it’s alright with you Kaze-Gaara,”- Gaara hide his smile as Lee corrected himself - “I would prefer if I could accompany you. If I recall, you still have a hard time sleeping during the full moon, right?”

Gaara blinked in surprise before he nodded, trust Lee to remember something small.

“Yes,” Gaara breathed, feeling something warm bloom in his chest. “I would like that.”

Lee smiled and held out his hand which Gaara took easily, letting their fingers intertwine as they continued Gaara’s patrol from where it had left off. 

Yes, life in the desert did not follow the cycles of the moon. It followed the changing of seasons and the light of the sun. But perhaps the moon, especially the full moon, wasn’t something to dismiss so easily, if it brought small moments like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudo if you enjoy. Leave a comment if you have something to say  
> Bookmark if you think it's good enough to read ;D


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